H-1B Visa Applications Are Down Again

On Thursday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the number of H-1B applications dropped for the second consecutive year.

Applications for the visa, which is frequently used in the tech industry by highly-skilled foreign workers,¬†opened on April 2 for a five day period. This year, 190,098 applications were received, down from 199,000 applications in 2017. Last year marked the first time the number fell below 200,000 applications¬†since 2014.

Only 85,000 H-1B visas are granted annually — 20,000 of which are reserved for master’s degree holders. This is the sixth year the application cap was met within the five day period

When demand for the visa exceeds the supply — like this year — a lottery system is activated.